Saturday, 2 May 2020

Specific gut bacteria may be associated with pulmonary arterial hypertension

Researchers
have identified a distinct collection of bacteria found in the gut that may
contribute to and predict the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension
(PAH), according to new research.

PAH is a chronic
and progressive disease in which the arteries that supply blood to the lungs
are constricted, resulting in symptoms such as shortness of breath, heart
palpitations, fatigue and others. In PAH, persistently high blood pressure in
lung arteries makes the right side of the heart work too hard to pump blood,
resulting in right-sided heart failure (inability of the heart to pump blood
adequately). It is much less common than systemic blood pressure, which
represents the force of blood moving through blood vessels throughout the
entire body.

Everyone
has a collection of bacteria in their gut -- known as microbiota -- that aid in
digestion. The researchers found that having a specific microbiota profile in
their gut predicted the presence of PAH with 83% accuracy.

"We
showed for the first time that specific bacteria in the gut are present in
people with PAH. While current PAH treatments focus on the lungs, looking at
the lung/gut axis could open the door to new therapies centered in the
digestive system," said Mohan Raizada, Ph.D., lead study author and
distinguished professor in the department of physiology and functional genomics
at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville, Fla.

For
the study, stool samples were collected from 18 PAH patients and 12 people
without a history of cardiopulmonary disease. The microbiota DNA from the stool
samples were isolated and sequenced. The testing revealed a group of bacteria
unique in the PAH patients that were associated with PAH.

This
is the first link between a specific collection of bacteria and pulmonary
arterial hypertension. However, it is not the first time that gut bacteria have
been connected to medical conditions. A variety of different gut microbiota
profiles have been linked to a variety of cardiovascular diseases including
high blood pressure.

If
the results are validated in a larger study, the researchers said that the
unique bacterial profile could help to diagnose PAH early, possibly replacing
the invasive heart catheterization that is used today to diagnose the disease.
Also, new types of treatment focused on altering the gut microbiome of PAH
patients could be developed, providing new hope for halting the progression of
the disease.